December divides neatly into three astrological packages. The first, until December 7, is an unreliable, indeterminate week when Mercury is completing its frustrating retrograde cycle, while Mars passes by recently awoken Neptune, a recipe for ‘fake news’ if ever there was one.

The month’s second phase is marked by the new Moon in Sagittarius on December 7 (at 07.20 GMT) and the full Moon in Cancer on December 22, mere hours after the pivotal moment of the winter solstice. This looks a frantic fortnight for all of us. Christmas/Winter* is coming (delete according to mood).

The third phase, from the solstice onwards, looks pleasant enough, but with the promise of some hard-nosed decisions early in 2019 (round up the usual suspect, Saturn). Present throughout the month are the duo Venus and Mars, ‘the relationship planets’ coasting through the watery pair Scorpio and Pisces respectively, and promising a season of quick crushes and deep thirsts. Enjoy.

Your Stars 2019 will be on sale later this month. Alerts will be sent.

Sagittarius

Shazam! Now that your ruling planet, Jupiter, is in the Centaur’s skies – ongoing for the next twelve months – fresh resolve and new plans are required, and instant results possible. The solar system’s largest planet represents good faith, good fortune and positive outcomes; frame your future accordingly. The new Moon of December 7 is a terrific launch pad for projects, and as Mercury stops dragging its feet on the same date, expect a frantic pace thereafter, with Mercury arriving in your skies on the 13th to speed things up.

With Jupiter you get both nobility and a more bawdy love of pleasure and good times. Excess is Jupiter’s downfall, a point to remember as you sail into the festive season all ablaze – yours is a fire sign after all. The days around the solstice, December 22, promise to bring welcome news, as messenger Mercury reaches the point where it went retrograde back in mid-November. The solstice also sees a full Moon in your zone of resources, a cautionary reminder that your pockets are not necessarily as deep as Jupiter’s desire to spend, spend, spend.

Mars is marching through your domestic zone all month, with the first week potentially challenging about where and with whom you might live. Neptune is the planet of confusion (among much else), and your astrologer’s advice is to postpone any decisions or conclusions until after December 7. You are better informed at the month goes on. Romances may be caught in a similar limbo, though the days before the solstice on the 22nd should spell out your situation clearly enough for you to make some big decisions about where a relationship is or isn’t going. Venus arrives in your skies early in the new year to help you bring things to a head. More of which in Your Stars 2019. Happy Birthday.

Capricorn

Nose to the grindstone – The Goat’s default position – will take you a long way in December. Your Saturn ruler has been in your skies since last Christmas but only now is the taskmaster planet breaking fresh ground since it went retrograde in April last. December birthdays can consider themselves set back on their ambitious course, January birthdays should anticipate something of a testing few months, be it a promotion, a property deal or a sentimental journey into family/the past.

The Sun behind the scenes together with Jupiter and Mercury caution against festive excess – at least until the Sun arrives in The Goat at the solstice – and plenty of TLC to ensure you are in shape for your birthday month and beyond, when great things are expected from you (oh yes they are…). Helping you keep an even keel in your social life – friends, colleagues, lovers – is Venus, now restored to watery Scorpio, a canny position for you, and a chance to revisit misunderstandings from November. Show some loyalty to your team, gather contacts, flirtation optional.

Closer and more enduring associations – fiancées, spouses, business partners, ex’s – are in the spotlight from the solstice, when a super potent full Moon arrives in your opposite sign of Cancer, Luna’s own sign. This looks like a reality check on your partnerships, and reality (at which Capricorns excel) is often pleasant, but the weekend of the 22nd certainly calls for a deft, responsive touch around significant others.

Christmas comes hurtling in with more impatience than usual. This year hominess might have to share its place alongside more outward-looking, unpredictable adventures.

Aquarius

2018 has been a year of turbulence for many Urn Bearers. Months of Mars in retrograde cycle in your skies have surely brought a few righteous battles. In the run-up to the holiday season, and indeed to your birthday month, the planets are in more congenial mood. Jupiter, newly arrived in Sagittarius – a fire sign to dance with an air sign like yours – is a refresher in your social life; chums, workmates, possible lovers, your team, people you must endure at committee meetings…all such associations receive a resolute air punch from Jupiter in your solar eleventh.

Jupiter is here for a year but is active all December, especially after the new Moon of the 7th. Be nimble, put second guessing aside. Your most public profile also needs a dusting. Venus, also out of retrograde, spends the month crossing the roof of your ‘scope, where your audience lies. Upgrade your presence, see and be seen, grab a new outfit, put in a star turn in the panto.

Warrior Mars now having left you, the red planet is in your zone of cash flow and making multiple aspects to the planets just mentioned; looks like you can turn an extra buck with a little savvy. More resonant in the long run are events in your solar twelfth house where ruler Saturn is active, framing the next fifteen months as a time of hatching a new chapter in 2020. The twelfth house is inclined to secrecy and the mind/body/spirit axis, Mens sana in corpore sano as an old wag put it. The full Moon here on December 22 is both a call to the spirit (the divine feminine if you like) and an invitation to turn over a leaf (organically grown) in your fitness regime.

Pisces

When your ruling planet, Jupiter, is atop your solar ‘scope – as of now and for the next year – a high profile is everything. It’s as if you are under pressure to prove yourself to an indifferent world. Where’s the recognition? Where’s your audience? Those are questions to be considered and acted upon over the next twelve months as Jupiter challenges you to prove yourself.

Just now, there should be no doubting your own self-assurance. Mars is in your skies throughout December, and while the red planet can be a difficult energy to handle – see last month’s forecasts – your best option is to front yourself up with no self-belittlement. Put some swagger in your step, and with Neptune so active in your skies during the first week of the month, give your CV a more glamorous make-over.

In terms of taking action, however, you are better waiting until after December 7, when you have a new Moon atop your ‘scope, ready for an, gulp, career relaunch…maybe not this actual week, but before your birthday month! Festive season or not, there are deals to be done and the status quo, however you like to fine it, is currently amenable to your propositions.

The full Moon of December 22, in your fellow water sign of Cancer, is quite a way marker in your social life, something of an enchanted moment for singletons and lovers, when the inclinations of your heart are those to act upon. It also spells a terrific moment for parties and knees-ups. Enjoy.

Aries

December’s emphasis on your fellow fire sign of Sagittarius is good news for the celestial Ram. True, you are still labouring under Mercury retrograde (like everyone else), and its tendency to cock-up may have helped put your financial dealings in a tangle, but once the quicksilver planet turns around on December 7, normal service is resumed. Indeed, with Venus back in the zone of shared resources, some kind of bonus may fall your way at mind-month.

December 7 also sees the arrival of the new Moon in Sagittarius, a signal to get your skates on, dispatch problems, pack a bag (travel gets a big tick across wintertime) and refresh your intellectual outlook. There are always planets in the Centaur at this time of year, but big-guy Jupiter rolls around only every twelve years, making this a time of grand opportunity that doesn’t end with December.

This year too, the winter solstice comes with a full Moon at the root of your solar ‘scope, A flurry of activity at home – as per normal this time of year but more so – is one scenario, or a couple of days when your subconscious mind talks with unusual fluency. Ghosts of Christmas Past seem likewise to be in unusual play, what with your Mars ruler behind the scenes.

You begin the new year with Mars in your skies, where the red planet belongs, an omen under which it’s hard to put a foot wrong. Let’s hope so, because professional challenge comes early and lingers long. More details in Your Stars 2019.

Taurus

Most Taureans are great talkers, and whatever glitches in your schedule, whatever the obstinacy of partners and opponents under the current spell of Mercury retrograde, everything can be solved by patient negotiation, especially after December 7, when Mercury moves forward, and a powerful new Moon arrives in your zone of shared resources. This is, indeed, a perfect time to be hunkering down with your accountant and your spreadsheet.

Ruler Venus is in opposition all month; again, a signal that your one-on-one relationships, romantic and otherwise, need tender handling. You are somewhat on the back foot and mere force in your opinions and behaviour are unlikely to work. Turn on the charm beam. In terms of romance, one particular character (Scorpionic in nature) may return to your attention, now that Venus is completing its retrograde cycle.

Your wider social life looks a rich vein of support throughout the month, providing you take the claims made by one or more of your team with a few grams of sea salt. Neptune and Mars make for a very jolly office party, but with Neptune, boundaries are blurred and rumours breed.

The dramatic full Moon at the winter solstice brings friends and siblings into especial focus – entirely in keeping with the festive season. The Sun in Capricorn is in purposeful mood, however, and you can expect to be juggling professional projects right from the New Year get-go. More details in Your Stars 2019.

Gemini

You have your hands full throughout December and, indeed, beyond. The Sun, Jupiter and Mercury in opposition, plus a pushy aspect from Mars are not to be taken lightly. You have to wheel and deal with partners, lovers and ex’s while simultaneously coping with a little shellfire in your professional life.

The most difficult time at work is likely the opening week of the month, when Mars joins Neptune, a sure sign that things are not what they seem, and disinformation is in the air. With Mercury retrograde, sitting on your hands is no bad policy. If you are in the spotlight at work, you might as well try a little bluff and a quick makeover – be your own spin doctor.

The new Moon of December 7, in Sagittarius, your opposite sign, highlights one-on-one relationships. This is very much a new chapter, as Jupiter is now established in the Centaur for the next twelve months. The mixed messages Jupiter brings – inspiring newcomers, bold partnerships in love and business, relationships running out of road – were considered in last month’s forecast.

With messenger Mercury also in opposition from December 13, there’s a lot of jaw-jaw going on; negotiate your way to a better future. `if you are entering into legal agreements, say with a business partner, this winter provides an opposite window.

The Sun moves into your zone of shared resources at the solstice, with a full Moon opposite in your zone of ready income and cash flow. At best, pennies from heaven pour down in time for the holidays, but with January looking critical for finances, don’t splash out beyond your means (another Jupiter effect). Maybe your swanky new sidekick will pick up the tab.

Cancer

It’s not unusual for you to shoulder the heavy lifting involved in the festive season – female Cancerians, in particular, incline to the role of clan leader – but with Jupiter active in your sixth the load looks especially heavy. Let’s hope you can whistle while you work!

Happily, you have fair Venus onside throughout the month. The planet of parties and romance is in your fellow water sign of Scorpio, bringing a touch of the torrid to your social life. At the risk of burning the candle at both ends, invitations are there to be accepted. Venus’s completion of its retrograde cycle may also bring back a fling from October.

There is also meaningful action in the third water sign, Pisces, where Mars is marching, passing the enigmatic planet Neptune early in the month. Neptune’s presence makes for a potentially glamorous connection or two but do due diligence – offers that are too good to be true probably are. Mars highlights your international connections and any role concerned with study and education.

Having the Moon as your celestial ruler means you are more responsive to Luna’s cycle than most of the zodiac. The new Moon of December 7 has a straightforward message; work diligently and keep yourself in shape. The full moon at the winter solstice on December 22 is in your skies (at 0.49 degrees, fact fans) and super potent. You can wrap up any unhappy chapters, screw them into a ball and consign them to the past, simultaneously greeting a new phase in your most personal life. Be in the right place at the solstice.

Leo

There’s old business and new business to take care of. The old business can be despatched during the first week or two of the month, as messenger Mercury straightens up and flies right. Domestic issues are those in the forefront, including an upgrade for the Leo palace.

Fresh business is way more exciting. With helpful Jupiter now lodged in Sagittarius, and a new Moon in the Centaur on December 7, it’s time to give your best plan your best shot. Christmas hoopla may be raging – and you look quite the party animal this year – but keep focused on whatever projects are closest to your heart; this winter is a cracker for the creatives among you, though you have to lead with your heart rather than your head.

Romance is likewise well starred. Tepid dates are unlikely to hit the spot, however; your Sun ruler and Jupiter are looking for something more dramatic, more Gone With The Wind rather than gone with a whimper. Options to find a grand affair increase as December and January unfold (next month Venus moves resolutely onside).

When not playing your part in spreading joy and light, you could do worse than hunker down with your accounts. Jupiter likes to spend big, but the state of your finances is foggy as the month opens (Neptune is involved). Once that new Moon arrives, you get more clarity about money matters.

The oddity among a very upbeat picture is the full Moon of December 22, which shines from the zone in your ‘scope that concerns secrets and hidden resources. That includes parts of your character and behaviour you don’t much like, as well as hush-hush plans. Full Moons beings matters to a head, and at least one of your private affairs may come into the open over yuletide. The Moon is in the Lion’s skies over Christmas itself; you are top performer in charades.

Virgo

Mars in opposition is customarily the signature for a little turbulence, especially around those to whom you are intimately connected; spouses, ex’s, dissatisfied fiancées and the like. The opening week or so of December finds Mars alongside Neptune, further complicating matters. It is difficult to assess what’s going on – a blind passion is as likely as a messy spat – and harder still to instill order…at least until after the new Moon of December 7, when your ruling planet, Mercury, escapes the fog of its retrograde cycle. Bear in mind, too, that Mars gets out of your face at the end of December.

That new Moon, together with Jupiter, may find you rethinking or tussling with domestic and family issues. Even if these are not imminent, or just for the festive season, your living arrangements deserve attention – Jupiter will be making its point across wintertime, and offering fresh solutions to any problems, upsizing even. Engage. If you are desperate, escape is possible.

The solstice, and the full Moon it brings on December 22, usher in a smoother month ahead, the Sun in Capricorn (a fellow earth sign) aligning sweetly with your own Virgo Sun. The full Moon is in the zone of teamwork and network, highlighting close friends and fellow travellers alike; not, then, the time for a solo act. Be among a crowd, and if necessary, take one for the team.

Libra

To live the Libran lifestyle to the full, life’s little luxuries must be found and paid for. Your ruling planet, Venus, has spent a lot of time in your zone of ready cash this autumn, and dawdles there through December. At worst, this signals a bout of retail therapy, at best a bonus dropping off the Christmas tree. Either way, try to find a just balance in your income/expenditure, and with Mercury finishing its traverse of your cash flow zone, catch up with your accounts.

Much of December is concerned with friendships and siblings, and the positive role they can play in your life. The recent arrival of Jupiter in Sagittarius, plus a new moon in The Centaur on December 7, accentuate abiding ties and mutual self-advancement; an ongoing theme across wintertime. Enmities need careful attention; next month brings the chance of renewed hostilities and/or peace offerings; pick your options.

In several respects the most intriguing celestial event is the full Moon that accompanies the solstice on December 22. This – very rarely – is at the absolute peak of your solar ‘scope, the point of maximum involvement with the wider world. Normally this involves career, but it’s also ‘being in the limelight’, enjoying a glow of fame, finding an audience. So yes, you have more than your usual share of profile across the festive season, the position of this full Moon makes it as much the start of a new chapter as the end of an old cycle.

Renewed stardom for Librans is a nice theme to carry into the new year, but keep in mind that the fuel for fame is hard work – you need application as well as talent.

Scorpio

Two planets, Mercury and Venus, completing their retrograde cycles in your skies have surely seen sod’s law at work in your everyday life – what can go wrong, will – and some turbulence/uncertainty in your emotional life. Mercury moves forwards from December 7 – give a cheer – while Venus is also moving on and will spend the entire month (and a bit) sashaying through The Scorpion.

If you needed an excuse to luxuriate across the festive season, here it is. More importantly, Venus in your sign and Mars in kindred Pisces makes for a sweet spot in your romantic and creative life. People and projects nearest to your heart are what deserve and repay your energy and consideration; it’s worth sacrificing some festive jollies in their pursuit. Demon lover, impassioned artist and deluded party animal are all roles currently on offer.

There is also plenty going on in your zone of ready cash flow. Jupiter’s ongoing presence and the new Moon of December 7 both promise good fortune in financial affairs, though you can’t just sit back and expect an undeserved bonus (well you can, but) – active and ingenious involvement promises rewards.

The full Moon that accompanies the solstice on December 22 is in a fellow water sign, Cancer, and by dint of its position at the very start of the Crab, and its completion of a water sign triangle with Venus and Mars, should be considered something of major omen. One cycle in your personal life is now completing, another opening. Luna in the Scorpio’s skies over New Year should bring that feeling to the surface.